Fullers London Porter (Cask)

Brewed by Fullers
Style: Porter
London, England

Cask Version at The Counting House in EC1. Firstly, this has to be one of the most amzing pubs in London. There is a huge chandelier hanging from a glass domed ceiling and up the back there is a minstrel gallery. Could you look down at all the smiling faces as Jethro Tull suggested? Too right, they would be beaming with these great Fullers beers on tap. This sits in the glass with the promise that you are going to drink something special. Lovely chocolate colour with an equal nose of chocolate mocha and black malt. There is a perfect balance in the flavour between the malt and hops and there is a presence of sticky date pudding, complete with a butterscotch sauce. I didn’t team this with the game pie of venison, rabbit, boar, bacon and mushrooms but I reckon this would be a match made in heaven. .

Bottled. Dark brown, tawny colour. ‘Complex’ best describes this beer. You have to take your time to understand it. Rich chocolate and malt aromas. First you think its going to be sweet then its not but instead a balanced roasted malt flavour is presented, transitioning into smoked flavours that tickled the sides of the tongue. This beer is definitely a flirt, not revealing itself all at once, hence the appeal. Re-rated 14/11/2003This was already my favourite beer but last night I stumbled upon the draft version at the Butcher’s Hook & Cleaver, at Smithfield’s. An amazing pub in its own right but it had this magnificent beer on pump. Wow, so much flavour it took me an age to drink. Savouring every moment, this pub just rocked up my favourites list.

Drank this from a keg at the Bishops Arms in Umeå in northern Sweden just as the long winter is rolling in - the perfect moment for a porter! Appearence - dark brown, almost ink black, with a creamy tan head that followed me all the way down to the bottom of the pint glass. Aroma - Wow!!! Huge nose of roasted coffee, chocolate, treacle and butter. Flavour - Masses of raisins, dark fruits overlaid with chocolate, butter and expresso coffee. A slight ash/burnt aftertaste, dry and crisp, with a residual burnt sugar taste. Palate - luxurious and sensual (steady on). Creamy and smooth with low carbonation. Overall - If this is really what they drank in London in the early nineteenth century then I was born a hundred years too late!

Available every November/December time in Fullers pubs as a seasonal. This was based on 2007 cask. Dark witha thickish creamy brown head. Chocolate and coffee are both there. Lovely mouthfeel and very moreish. A lovely drop.

DAMN! Tried this several times while in England, and rating the bottled version reminded me I should dig out my notes on the cask version. It’s just such an incredible beer, warming, fruity, rich, not at all sweet. Reminds me of chocolate milk in its texture and bits of the flavour. I wish we could get this on cask in NZ.

A good Porter, traditional in aroma and flavour. Good for those cold winter nights when you need to feel you have something of substance. Great as an ingredient in Beef & Oyster pie!

Cask handpull at Head of Steam, Euston. For some reason I have found this unbelievably difficult to find on draught this winter. Black beer with beige head. Lots of burnt malts. What is impressive is the mouth feel and the fruit. Velvety/grainy, full, intense flavours. Damsons, plums, prunes. Then a harsh, burnt finish, tempered by choc and more dark fruits. Stunning beer

Cask: Seductive and impressive! Black colour with the most creamy head ever. Milk chocolate, liqourice, lightly raosted coffe beans and a balancing restrained bitterness. Full and very smooth. Have had it a few times since where it hasn’t been in as perfect condition - 4.0